Library Assistants, Clerical in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,992
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$5,698
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,412
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$32,690
Kept after tax
$26,992
Worth in national money
$28,412
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Utah pays library assistants, clerical a middle wage of $32,690, 38 of 50 states and about 11.43% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Utah this is lower-paid work. Of 487 occupations the state publishes figures for, library assistants, clerical ranks 468. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $32,690 you keep $26,992, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,412 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $33,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Utah's $32,690 median for library assistants, clerical places it 38 of 50 states, about 11.43% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Utah reports, library assistants, clerical ranks 468 of 487, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for library assistants, clerical on $32,690 is $26,992. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,412 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $33,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Library Assistants, Clerical
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,670 |
| This salary | $32,690 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Utah | $26,992 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,446 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$862 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $30,880 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,042 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $32,690. The published range is $24,030 up to $45,670, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $26,992, from $32,690, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 468 of 487 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $28,412, the adjusted value of that $32,690 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 468 of 487 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for library assistants, clerical in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $24,030 to $45,670. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,992 from $32,690. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 468 of 487 locally.
- This $28,412 adjusted figure, worked from $32,690, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 468 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 468 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $33,970, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $24,030 and the top tenth $45,670, so most people doing this work in Utah sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $28,412 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,992 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Utah is $33,970. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($24,030 to $45,670) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $28,412 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $26,992 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.